Vishnu Solanki

Vishnu Solanki helped Baroda pull off a last-over heist against Haryana with a sensational 71, which included a six off the game's final ball, to fire his team into the semifinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday.

His heart didn’t burst into a rapturous beat to celebrate his gutsy 100th run, but Vishnu Solanki’s moist eyes paid a scintillating tribute to his daughter, his first child, who he lost a fortnight ago.

Right-handed batsman Vishnu Solanki, who hit a helicopter shot a la MS Dhoni off the last ball in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 quarter-final against Haryana, to take Baroda to win and into the semi-finals, said that he had practiced the stroke in the quarantine period just for the 'death' overs for domestic limited-overs tournaments.

All-rounders Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda have been named in the 22-member Baroda squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy National T20 Championships, starting January 10.

On a day when as many as 22 wickets fell on the 22 yards, Vishnu Solanki and Deepak Hooda smashed brilliant fifties to help Baroda take a crucial 111-run lead over Karnataka in the Group A Ranji Trophy match on Monday.

A bereaved Vishnu Solanki has decided to stay on with the team and play the third Ranji Trophy game for Baroda despite suffering twin tragedies.

Bruised and battered by first round losses, both Chandigarh and Baroda will hope to gain the upper hand when the two teams face off in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B second round fixture at the Vikash Cricket Ground in Cuttack from Thursday.

Not many people have the courage to turn up in a first-class game after losing his new born and then score a hundred only to get the news of his father's death and watch the funeral on a video call.

Baroda led by 161 runs against Odisha at the end of Day 2 in their Ranji Trophy Group A match. Opener Shivalik Sharma scored 96 and Vishnu Solanki made 98. Skipper Krunal Pandya remained unbeaten on 88 as Baroda reached 354/6 in 107 overs.

It was a strange sight. Every time he would face Shubham Ranjane, Vishnu Solanki would stand a few inches outside his off stump. The unorthodox stance had been devised to counter the part-time seamer’s simple plan — keep bowling outside the off stump, pack the off side with seven fielders, and frustrate the batsman. And the counter-plan worked beautifully, albeit due to the skills of Solanki.

Samarth Vyas blazed away to 97 off 52 balls to power Saurashtra to a four-wicket win over Baroda in a Group D fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament on Wednesday.

Fast bowler Siddarth Kaul starred with the ball before Punjab put up an all-round batting effort to register a three-wicket win over Baroda in an Elite Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.

Opener Aditya Waghmode on Friday hit a magnificent 138 and helped Baroda take a massive 205 runs first innings lead over Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy Group C match here on day 2.

Unbeaten Baroda qualified for the knockout stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as they finished on top in Group C following a 12-run win over Gujarat on Monday. Put into bat at the F B Colony ground here, Baroda rode on an unbeaten 59 by Vishnu Solanki and a whirlwind 17-ball 34 by Abhimanyusingh Rajput to post a competitive 176 for four and then restricted Gujarat to 164/9 to eke out a win.

India all-rounder Krunal Pandya will lead the Baroda squad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning February 20.

Rujul Bhatt got wonderful support from Rohit Dahiya who scored 67 runs from 72 balls. Together they added 96 runs for the sixth wicket and took Gujarat closer to victory.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sagar Jogiyani's 114-ball 166 set the stage for Saurashtra's 156-run win over Baroda in the G1 Reliance one-day tourney played at Motera B ground.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya will skip the Ranji Trophy starting on February 10 to focus on his India comeback in white-ball cricket.

If the batters failed to live up to the expectations on the opening day, it was the Chandigarh bowlers, who struggled and conceded a healthy 230-run first innings lead as Baroda raced to 398 for 7 at stumps on the second day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy encounter at Cuttack on Friday.